Happy Irina-versary

Yesterday, I slipped in a pic of Irina Shayk’s posterior, so that post and this post tip the all-time Swimsuitologist scale in her favor: Irina Shayk 64, Kate Upton 62. In a way, it makes sense. This was Irina’s tenth consecutive appearance in the swimsuit issue, tying her with her fellow Russian beauty Anne V.

How did the rest of her 2007 rookie class fare?

Ana Paula Araujo (1 year)

Raica Oliveira (1 year)

Selita Ebanks (2 years)

Tori Praver (3 years)

Bar Refaeli (5 years)

Julie Henderson (7 years)

Like I did with Anne V, I counted up the number of models Irina has shared the magazine with. I have Irina at 81, leaving her a little short of Anne’s 88. (Anne was helped by the All-Star Reunion issue, which came out in 2006, just before Irina’s time.)

• • •

Adaora • Nina Agdal • Lily Aldridge • Ana Paulia Araujo • Melissa Baker • Natasha Barnard • Ana Beatriz Barros • Rose Bertram • Beyonce • Kate Bock • Yasmin Brunet • Jeisa Chiminazzo • Hailey Clauson • Shannan Click • Kim Cloutier • Hannah Davis • Sonia Dara • Brooklyn Decker • Yamila Diaz • Cintia Dicker • Emily DiDonato • Zoe Duchesne • Lucia Dvorska • Selita Ebanks • Hannah Ferguson • Kenza Fourati • Esti Ginzburg • Jessica Gomes • Izabel Goulart • Ashley Graham • Quiana Grant • Kirby Griffin • Gigi Hadid • Melissa Haro • Jessica Hart • Erin Heatherton • Bregje Heinen • Julie Henderson • Samantha Hoopes • Marloes Horst • Chanel Iman • Heidi Klum • Bo Krsmanovic • Robyn Lawley • Damaris Lewis • Jarah Mariano • Lauren Mellor • Ariel Meredith • Alyssa Miller • Marisa Miller • Tanya Mityushina • Genevieve Morton • Fernanda Motta • Aline Nakashima • Raica Oliveira • Oluchi Onweagba • Julie Ordon • Barbara Palvin • Jessica Perez • Dominique Piek • Tori Praver • Emily Ratajkowsi • Bar Refaeli • Crystal Renn • Sofia Resing • Hilary Rhoda • Kelly Rohrbach • Sarah Sampaio • Daniella Sarahyba • Ashley Smith • Solveig • Fernanda Tavares • Chrissy Teigen • Yesica Toscanini • Kate Upton • Cris Urena • Anne V • Valerie van der Graaf • Veronika Varekova • Michelle Vawer • Jessica White

• • •

Now, there’s no need to assume Irina will call it quits after just one decade. Kathy Ireland has the all-time record at 12 years (including 11 in a row). Does Irina have her eyes on that mark?

 

Watch your back, Ireland.

Topless Tuesday: Selita Ebanks, 2008

Swingsuit Issue

Swimsuit models in hammocks. Why not?

• • •

UPDATE, 5/20/18

I've been in a Myla Dalbesio mood, so I thought I'd update this three-year-old post with a hammock pic of her from the 2018 issue. (I also added her to my birds post.)

Daniella S-ARRRRGGH-ahyba and Friends

In honor of International Talk Like A Pirate Day, please enjoy these 2008 photos of Daniella, Selita, and Melissa.

50 Greatest Swimsuit Models, #50-41

Ah, this should be fun. Swim Daily is counting down the 50 Greatest Swimsuit Models this week. They’re unveiling 10 a day, so they’ve already shown us who’s cracked the bottom of the list.

Thanks, Lexus! And Brooklyn, Tyra, and Kate’s cleavage!

I’ve hastily assembled my 50 favorite, so I can release my picks parallel to theirs.

I expect a pretty significant difference between the lists. First of all, I tend to get obsessed with some fairly unknown models after just one appearance. (Hello Kenza, Jeisa and Lucia!) Also, I suspect SI will stack the top of their list pretty heavily with current models, as a bit of a marketing move. It wouldn’t look very good if their current crop—your Kate Uptons, your Irina Shayks, your Alyssa Millers, your Nina Agdals—couldn’t crack the top 10.

And if you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably already know who my #1 is.

I guess my full disclosure is that the list reflects my personal tastes of the day, with factors like the model’s fame, or number of appearances, or importance in the industry, or legendary status, acting as factors in some undefinable way.

So let’s get to the fun, arbitrary rankings.

50: Lucia Dvorska

Fragile, dark Lucia. Why did we have you for just one fleeting February?

49: Selita Ebanks

48: Laetitia Casta

47: Audrey Quock

46: Jeisa Chiminazzo

45: Anne V

I love Anne's longevity. (She's been identified with some certainty as one of the models in the 2014 preview shots, which would mean she'll be in a record ten consecutive issues.) She's always struck me as a bit more "fashion model" than "cheesecake model," though I quite liked her 2013 shots.

44: Rachel Hunter

A pretty low ranking for a favorite, as pointed out in the comments section. I love Rachel, but she kind of struck me as a solid, reliable presence rather than a superstar. (Though this shot is probably one of my favorite photos in all of SI.)

43: Isabeli Fontana

42: Daniella Sarahyba

How could you deny Her Royal Smileness a spot?

41: Ingrid Seynhaeve

Happy Birthday, Selita Ebanks

 30 today.

Missing the Complexities

Complex.com just listed their 100 Hottest Supermodels of All Time. As you might imagine, nearly half of the list is made up of SI girls. There are a lot of obvious names (your Elles, your Christies, your Marisas, your Tyras, what have you), but I thought I’d call out a few deeper cuts, some girls who don’t get as much exposure on this blog as they should.

Yasmeen Ghauri (#92)

Carolyn Murphy (#76)

Daniela Pestova (#72)

Angela Lindvall (#49)

Selita Ebanks (#17)

Niki Taylor (#12)

Each model has a series of icons at the bottom of her page, including “SI Swimsuit Issue Certified” to designate ladies who’ve appeared in the swimsuit issue.

Unfortunately, it’s not used with a great deal of accuracy. For one thing, they left that icon off Cindy Crawford’s listing.

That’s understandable; she had one photo in one issue, and her fame was largely independent of SI.

But more oddly, they apply this icon to six models who have never appeared in SI.

Doutzen Kroes (#80)

Alessandra Ambrosio (#24)

Miranda Kerr (#18)

Linda Evangelista (#9)

Gisele Bundchen (#6)

Claudia Schiffer (#5)

What do you think? Should these ladies have been in SI?

I normally don’t find myself wishing that models I know from elsewhere would appear in the swimsuit issue. But I have to admit, there are a couple of Victoria’s Secret models I just recently discovered who would make lovely additions.

They are Barbara Palvin:

…and Candice Swanepoel: 

Maybe on some future hot girls list, that little icon will be lucky enough to appear under their photos.